Abel to Yzerman

Abel to Yzerman

A2Y- Work It Out

02/02/2023 at 6:45am EST

from Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press,

Larkin has been a key part of the rebuild since the former management group chose the metro Detroit-area native with the No. 15 pick in 2014. He was named captain by general manager Steve Yzerman in January 2021, and now it’s on Yzerman to find a way to fit Larkin into the budget beyond this season. ...

The Wings have offered the 26-year-old an eight-year, $64-million contract. The $8 million annual average value would give Larkin a nearly $2 million raise and would give Yzerman flexibility as he faces extending the contracts of young stars Moritz Seider and Lucas Raymond, both soon-to-be restricted free agents, next season.

Larkin’s side — he switched representation last May from KO Sports to CAA — can counter with a comparable courtesy of New York Islanders general manager Lou Lamoriello: Last October, the Islanders signed Mathew Barzal for $73.2 million over eight years, which averages out to $9.15 million per season (with the extension kicking in for the 2023-24 season). Barzal is a year younger than Larkin, was drafted at No. 16 in 2015, and has 103 goals among 354 points in 413 career games.

Teams can offer their own pending UFAs an eight-year contract, while no other team can offer more than seven. A seven-year offer at $9 million per year works out to $63 million, $1 million less than the Wings’ total offer. The Wings’ offer comes with something Larkin can’t do anywhere else: Captain his hometown’s Original Six franchise.

more ($)

rwbill

I will be surprised if he doesnt sign.  Stranger things have happened.

VPalmer

As I mentioned in the other post, if Larkin does not take 8x8 ($64 total) because he can get potentially 7x9.5 somewhere else ($66.5), then he does not want to be here

TreKronor

Of course he'll wait to see if he can get more, but he'll be in a Wings jersey in the Fall.  He'd be a fool to walk away from, what I consider, a very fair and perhaps generous offer of $8x8.  

OTC

I wonder if the holdup has anything to do with a no-trade clause? The contracts of current players that Yzerman has signed are either with no NTC or with a modified NTC (a 10-team exclusion list). Maybe Larkin wants a full NTC.

Or maybe his new agents are just trying to flex their muscles and show other potential clients that they can get more than their clients are really worth (and $9M for eight years would be more than Larkin is worth).

nctheo

I can't see Larkin going someplace else. All the rationale above make sense to me.


But let me game it out further. The teams that need a 1C are generally cheap to begin with, or some combination of cap-strapped, terrible rosters, just starting the rebuild, or otherwise desperate. Why would he go there?

I cannot see good playoff teams paying that term and dollar commitment for a 2C to strengthen their roster.  (See the Boston trial balloon article from yesterday). Why would one of those teams choose to commit that much?

Does anyone see a team in a position to sign Larkin in July for what he wants? 

EthrDemon

I think 8x $8M is more than fair for Larkin, more than that might be an anchor

Create an Account

In order to leave a comment, please create an account.

About Abel to Yzerman

Welcome to Abel to Yzerman, a Red Wing blog since 1977. No other site on the internet has better-researched, fact-laden and better prepared discussions than A2Y. Re-phrase: we do little research, find facts and stats highly overrated and claim little to no preparation. There are 19 readers of A2Y. No more, no less. All of them, except maybe one, are juvenile in nature. Reminding them of that in the comment section will only encourage them to prove that.

Most Recent Posts

Most Recent Comments